Re: [IP] Medicare ALJ case

Denise, it's curious to me when you state in point 3, the life expectancy of
a type I is 68 years. I have a friend who does some kind of work in the
insurance world and he studies life expectancy as it pertains to life
insurance policies and he said that diabetics who take care of their
diabetes live a long natural life. In other words, the disease does not cut
your life short. The lack of caring for the disease may though.
I'd like to know if anyone else knows about this. I'm "lucky" because I
didn't get the disease as a child. I got it at the old age of 57.
On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 7:28 PM, Denise <email @ redacted> wrote:
> Listening to everybody talking about Medicare and being not so far from
> being on Medicare, what all Type 1's might want to get into, if we can get
> the ADA to carry it, is a class action lawsuit.
>
> The criticism of the right was that national health care would lead to
> so-called death squads seems to be correct with regard to people who have
> Type 1 (insulin-dependent, auto-immune) diabetes because:
>
> 1. All diabetics are required to take a C-peptide test, apparently in the
> hope that the need for insulin has magically disappeared and now a regimen
> of care suitable for the needs of Type 2 diabetics is all that is needed.
> (If the shoe doesn't fit, chop off the toes and ram the foot back in.)
>
> 2. If insulin is needed, Medicare rule-makers do not consider that the
> most widely used insulins today are not the same as the older, almost
> obsolete types commonly prescribed in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Apidra,
> Humalog and Novalog require careful and constant monitoring. Older insulins
> like NPH and Lente are not used very much. (Does anybody know anybody who
> is on NPH?)
>
> 3. Type 1 diabetics have a longer life expectancy and a longer survival
> span. I just saw an article that said at the ADA's San Diego meeting, the
> average life expectancy for a person with Type 1 diabetes is now
> 68.something years. (Yippee, I have 10 years left to live, and I'm going to
> enjoy them to the max!)
>
> 4. There are new complications from Type 1 diabetes that are becoming more
> obvious and appearing more frequently with this longer life-span, such as
> gastroparesis (pardon my spelling). Now we need more test strips than ever
> before. Beta blockers also interfere with the ability to sense lows.
>
> Washington bureaucrats hear the word "diabetes" and figure that people over
> the age of 65 are not going to have "brittle" diabetes. It's the same
> mentality that almost killed my Type 1 mother when the nursing home she was
> in decided that she didn't need any insulin because her blood sugar was in
> the "normal" range. Well, a BG of 1300 because of her missed injection(s)
> wasn't funny.
>
> We need to organize!
>
> Denise B.
>
>
>
>
> On 6/30/2011 7:43 PM, Phyllis wrote:
>
>> Shirley,
>> None of what Medicare or it's payers are doing makes any sense to me. I
>> will be sure to post the outcome of the ALJ hearing. So far that is the
>> only item that I have had a problem with; test strips.
>> I am fortunate to have an Endocrinologist that is willing to be heard at
>> the hearing and that my supplier is going to speak on my behalf. This is
>> my last opportunity to appeal , as I understand it, and I will let you
>> and others know what happens.
>> I'm also fortunate to have a supplier that is not withholding the test
>> strips he knows I need and an Endocrinologist that cares for his
>> patients as if they were his family.
>>
>> Phyllis
>> Ft. Myers, Fl.
>> _____________
>>
> .
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